What pathways to work do immigrants without permanent legal status have?

Legal loopholes for working without authorization exist, as immigrants await updates to their status or work permits.

Warning: This piece mentions suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, you can reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988, or by visiting 988lifeline.org.

For our Marketplace Economic Pulse series, we’re revisiting the intersection of economics and immigration — specifically, immigrants in the United States without permanent legal status, and their path to finding work.

Sometimes that work is only available under the table, which can run afoul of the law. But there are, in fact, other ways — essentially legal loopholes — for working as an independent contractor or even starting a limited liability company when a work permit isn’t obtainable or is delayed.

Enter: Aliento, an immigrant advocacy nonprofit in Arizona that helps folks navigate all this. Juan Carlos Cisneros Suarez took part in an Aliento educational program, and now he’s a contract worker, despite lacking permanent legal status — and despite a long and difficult journey from Mexico to the United States to college graduation.

“Figuring out the LLC is kind of the next step in, ‘Hey, I’m waiting for my work permit, I have to do something more.’ So I’ll do the LLC, while hopefully my work permit comes in,” he told Marketplace.

Click the audio player above to hear Cisneros Suarez’s story.